May 22 – Lemonada Media, the award-winning podcast network, and the BBC today announce an innovative partnership to create a brand new international podcast series. Sharing a podcast audience with an appetite for high quality audio, this new partnership will bring friendly pop culture debate in a fresh weekly format to podcast lovers around the world.

The series will be hosted by veteran podcaster and expert interviewer Aminatou Sow and will launch this summer wherever you get your podcasts and on BBC Sounds.

Pop Culture Debate Club pairs Aminatou with two guests each week who will challenge each other to a light-hearted someone-wins-but-no-one-loses debate about which is better – from the most delicious meal on screen to the most realistic sports movie. Listeners get to laugh along with guests such as Jane Marie, Dan Pashman and Bomani Jones, cheering on their favourite along the way.

Jessica Cordova Kramer, CEO Lemonada Media, says “It’s been a treat to work with the brilliant team at the BBC on creating a series that will spark joy across the continents for its listeners. Hearing Aminatou bring this creative concept to life with guests each week has been a breath of fresh air”.

Jonathan Wall, Director of BBC Sounds says: “We’re delighted to announce our partnership with Lemonada to create an exciting new pop culture podcast that we hope is loved by listeners around the world. We’re working with some of the best in the business to build our reach and reputation with new audiences and we can’t wait for them to hear this entertaining new show.”

Pop Culture Debate Club is commissioned by Rhian Roberts, BBC Commissioner for Podcasts, Formats and Digital. BBC Studios co-financed the series as part of its mission to reach new global audiences with BBC content.

BBC Sounds Audio Lab and Multitrack

Audio Lab, the podcast creator accelerator programme from BBC Sounds, is partnering with Multitrack, a charity working to raise awareness around diversity, equity and inclusion in the audio industry, by sponsoring its award winning Fellowship programme.

The Multitrack Fellowship is a career changing opportunity for aspiring audio producers currently underrepresented in the industry, offering internships with renowned independent audio production companies including Reduced Listening, Loftus, Whistledown, Novel, Storyglass, Absolutely, Listen, Peanut & Crumb and more to be announced.

Each successful Fellow will be paid the Living Wage for their work during a 12 week programme where they will gain hands-on experience in a demanding production environment, get the chance to learn from peers in the radio and podcasting industries and be given the opportunity to compete for several professional commissions.

The BBC’s contribution will not only help the Fellowship programme – up until now run by volunteers – to continue to support 14 full time paid placements, it will also create up to three additional part-time placements for producers outside of London, with smaller companies that might not otherwise have the resources to host a Multitrack Fellowship.

The partnership will also help fund two commissions for BBC Sounds, as well as provide some Fellows the opportunity to pitch their ideas to commissioning editors at BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio 4, giving them unique insight into the pitching and commissioning process.

Applications for the Multitrack Fellowship are open until 3 June.

Khaliq Meer, Commissioning Executive, BBC Sounds Audio Lab, says: “People from all backgrounds should be given the same opportunities to build a career in radio and podcast production in the UK. With our aligned values I’m delighted that Audio Lab is partnering with Multitrack to help support their brilliant Fellowship programme, which I hope we can grow and evolve over the years and continue our commitment to amplifying new, diverse talent in the audio industry as well as supporting the independent audio sector.”

Joby Waldman, Multitrack Volunteer Organiser: “We are really excited to be teaming up with BBC Sounds Audio Lab, a natural partner with their track record in providing platforms for emerging producers from backgrounds which have been historically under-represented in the industry. Audio Lab’s support will help us run the fellowship, as well as extending the number of placements we can offer, with a focus on companies outside of London in the 2024 Multitrack Fellowship.”

New commissions from the BBC

Make Me a Mixtape

Longtime friends and music experts Clara Amfo and Rizzle Kicks’ Jordan Stephens are joining forces for a brand new, weekly music show, Make Me a Mixtape. As two of the UK’s best-known presenters and podcast hosts, Clara and Jordan are on a weekly mission to build the ultimate mixtape.

In this new series, once the theme is set by the listener, or celebrity guest, Clara and Jordan will battle it out to curate the perfect mixtape. As Clara and Jordan push for perfection there will be killer stories, incredible celebrity drop ins, hilarious confessions, tea-spilling reveals and full throttle music passion. The power is then in the listeners’ hands to decide who curated the best mixtape for them.

Using their music knowledge as well as their own tastes and experiences, this is a format where human beings, not algorithms, pick the best tracks, allowing listeners to tap into new music loves (and hates) and long forgotten gems.

Make me a Mixtape is an Audio Always production for BBC Music & BBC Sounds

Commissioners: Rory Connolly and Ellie Buckland

The Long History of Ignorance: From Confucius to QAnon

Rory Stewart examines the radical idea that knowing our ignorance is more important than knowing anything else. In a new 6-part series for Radio 4 and BBC Sounds, Rory draws on Western and Eastern ideas, from the ancient world to the present day. He challenges the assumption that knowledge is intrinsically good and that ignorance is simply the inconvenient absence of knowledge. Instead, Rory considers the idea that ignorance is our fundamental condition as humans, and has its own story. He examines the way in which knowledge has been used to make bad decisions for humankind, and how simply acquiring more knowledge often doesn’t solve our problems. On the other hand, could a greater awareness of our ignorance open up the world, help us to make better decisions and become better people? This is not an argument for not knowing, it’s an argument for a better way of knowing, where knowledge and ignorance exist in a relationship with each other. With a star cast of global thinkers, Rory reflects on what these counter-intuitive insights could bring to our social and political life.

Producer: Dan Tierney
Editor: Tim Pemberton
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke

You’ll Never Beat Kyle Walker

You’ll Never Beat Kyle Walker puts listeners in the shoes of a Premier League winner who takes them to places they can likely never imagine going. From Champions League Finals, walking out at Anfield, watching England go 1-0 up in a home Euros final, playing a World Cup, going up against Lionel Messi, Kyle shares his footballing journey first-hand.

In this exciting new commission from BBC Sounds, Three Lions legend Kyle Walker tells his story like never before, showcasing the best of British sporting storytelling and bringing audiences together ahead of an exciting summer of sport.

Hosted by Chris Hughes, Kyle reflects on his time in the game from Sheffield United to present day. Kyle discusses everything around football, his longevity and giving listeners a first-hand insight into what it is really like to be at the top of the Premier League and international tree for so long. Listeners will also find out who he is a player, his hinterland in the game, games of his playing days, favourite opponents, hardest opponents, best goals, worst moments and more.

A Folding Pocket production for 5Live and BBC Sounds

Producer: Simon Clancy, Folding Pocket
Commissioning Exec: Stevie Middleton

Communicating with Ros Atkins

We all communicate multiple times a day, but could we be getting better results? From a simple text or phone call to a job interview or work presentation, the way we express ourselves is important.

In this series, Ros Atkins and his guests reveal their advice to improve communication, and how simple changes to the way we interact can have a big impact.

Ros is joined by some of the world’s best communicators to find out how they achieve what they do. We’ll hear from experts in their fields, from comic Rob Brydon to legendary magazine editor Tina Brown, a top doctor to an excellent teacher, and more, to find out how they have honed their communication skills over the years. From deciding what to say and how to be persuasive, to making your point when it matters most, each episode will provide you with the skills to improve your own communication.

A Listen Production for BBC Radio 4

Producer: Hannah Newton
Commissioning Editor: Rhian Roberts

Lady Swindlers with Lucy Worsley

In this spin off series of Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley, we switch our attention to the swindlers, con-women and hustlers.

This is where true crime meets history – with a twist. Join Lucy Worsley and a team of all female detectives as they travel back in time to revisit the audacious – and surprising – crimes of women who were trying to make it in a world made for men.

Women who stepped outside their ordinary lives to do extraordinary things. What do their crimes and the times they lived in teach us about women’s lives today? We meet Queens of the Underworld, hoaxers, thieves, scammers and even a fake heiress as we travel back in time and from England, Wales, Scotland, the US and Australia.

A StoryHunter production for Radio4 and BBC Sounds

Historical Consultant: Rosalind Crone
Executive Producer: Kirsty Hunter
Producers: Jane Greenwood, Sarah Goodman, Hannah Fisher, Emily Hughes
Associate Producer: Riham Moussa
Sound Design: Chris Maclean
Commissioning Editor: Rhian Roberts

Curious Cases with Hannah Fry and Dara O’Briain

Curious Cases is back! Superstar mathematician and broadcaster Hannah Fry teams up with legendary comedian and fellow science nerd Dara O’Briain for an all-new series of the show which takes your quirkiest questions and solves them with the power of SCIENCE.

Our dynamic duo enlist the world’s top experts to tackle the most profound and puzzling questions to have ever trickled through your curious minds: Could you power a spaceship with a lemon? Can you die of boredom? Why do some people smell the colour purple? Why does Hannah have absolutely no sense of rhythm? And could we stop climate change with massive space bubbles!?

Each episode is a journey from the ridiculous to the profound, where listeners’ farfetched musings end up revealing keen insights into our world and ourselves.

A BBC Studios Audio production for Radio 4 and BBC Sounds

Producers: Marijke Peters and Ilan Goodman
Executive Producer: Sasha Feachem
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke

The Human Subject

In The Human Subject, Dr Adam Rutherford and Dr Julia Shaw investigate the threads connecting modern day medicine to its often brutal origins. Humanity’s journey to understanding the body has been a gory one; littered with unethical experiments, unintended consequences and unimaginable endurance. It’s the story of catastrophic failures, at great human cost, but also successes, which made history and saved countless lives.

With every episode our hosts explore some of that dark history and ask – is our present day knowledge worth the suffering it took to get us here? This ten part series will cover recent stories and tales that date as far back as the 1800s, featuring discoveries related to many parts of the human body and mind.

An Audio Always production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds

Series Producer: Simona Rata
Assistant Producer: Mansi Vithlani
Executive Producer: Jo Meek
Sound Design: Craig Edmondson
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke

The History Podcast: Escape from the Maze

The shocking inside story of the biggest jailbreak in British penal history – told by those who carried out – and those who tried to stop them. The Maze – built at the height of the Northern Irish Troubles and reputed to be the highest security prison in western Europe. It’s designers hadn’t accounted for a prison population that considered itself to be an army…

Across ten episodes, former teacher in the prison Carlo Gebler takes us onto the wings of the H-Blocks to unlock the inside story of the biggest escape in British penal history. As former IRA prisoners reveal how they carried it out and key security personnel explain why they were unable to stop them, Carlo asks if Northern Ireland will ever break free from its past?

Producer: Conor Garrett
Executive Editor: Philip Sellars
Production Co-ordinator: Gill Huggett
Music: Phil Kieran
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke
Archive with kind permission of Cypress Avenue Films

Why Do You Hate Me USA

The second series of BBC’s Radio 4’s Why Do You Hate Me takes Disinformation and Social Media Correspondent – and ARIAS Best Speech Presenter – Marianna Spring to the USA. Following on from the success of the first series, she will investigate extraordinary cases of online hate unfolding State-side.

As one of the BBC’s most trolled correspondents, Marianna will be uncovering why people behave the way they do on social media ahead of what is set to be a heated Presidential race. This series interrogates the social media context in which the election is unfolding.

Marianna tracks down both the people harmed and causing harm on social media, investigating everything from extreme hate targeting officials and students to exploring online fandoms, deepfakes and corrosive conspiracy theories. Each episode exposes the real-world consequences of what’s happening in this online world, and its impact on society and democracy in the US. Marianna will be meeting people at the heart of online conflicts, and in some cases brings them together, to see if understanding – even forgiveness – is possible.

Producers: Emma Close and Danny Wittenberg
Assistant Editor: Matt Willis
Senior News Editor: Sam Bonham
Commissioning Editor: Rhian Roberts